Features, provenance, and tectonic significance of Carboniferous–Permian glacial marine diamictites in the Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan block, Tibetan Plateau

• Glacial sediments were transported by ice rafts and deposited in a marine environment.
• Provenance of the glacial marine diamictite on the Tibetan Plateau was Indian Gondwana.
• From the Early to the Late Paleozoic, the Indian Gondwana was an erosional zone.
• Himalaya area, Lhasa and Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan blocks were depositional environments.

In this study, we conducted profile measurements, gravel composition analyses, and U–Pb dating on detrital zircons from a representative glacial marine diamictite in the Gangmaco–Dabure area of the Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan block, Tibetan Plateau. We conclude that the diamictite was formed in a glacial marine environment from the outer edge of the continental shelf to the continental slope and deep sea, in what is now the Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan block. Four distinct glacial–interglacial cycles were identified in the diamictite, which record a minimum of four stages of Gondwana glaciation in the area of the Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan block. Combined with regional geological information, we also conclude that during the Carboniferous–Permian, sediments containing the glacial marine diamictite derived from Gondwana, in the region extending from India to the Tethys Himalaya area, and Lhasa and Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan blocks, recorded the transition from continental, neritic to abyssal environments. Gravel assemblages and U–Pb dating of detrital zircons in the glacial marine diamictite indicate that the provenance of the diamictite was Indian Gondwana. We infer that during the Late Paleozoic, the northern margin of the Indian Gondwana continued to be influenced by the Early Palaeozoic tectonic set-up, when Indian Gondwana was under an erosional regime, and the Tethys Himalaya area, and Lhasa and Southern Qiangtang–Baoshan blocks were deposited on a passive continental margin.

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